Best intranet for education Why education needs a different kind of intranet The best intranet for education is subjective. While there are front runners and definitive category leaders, making the decision for your needs is entirely up to you. Education organisations face a communication challenge unlike almost any other sector. Schools, colleges, universities, and multi academy trusts must communicate with a workforce that spans teachers, lecturers, support staff, administrators, and leadership teams, all working to different schedules and pressures. Despite this complexity, many education institutions still rely on fragmented tools such as email, shared drives, learning platforms, staff portals, and messaging apps. Important updates are missed, policies are hard to find, and staff quickly disengage from yet another system that adds noise rather than clarity. A modern education intranet must do more than store documents. It must actively support teaching and operational staff, reduce information overload, and ensure critical updates are seen, understood, and trusted. What education organisations need from an intranet The best intranet for education must support both academic and operational realities. Key requirements include: Desk based and mobile access so staff can engage whether they are in classrooms, offices, or working remotely Targeted communication by role, department, school, faculty, or trust Strong governance and compliance for safeguarding, inspections, and statutory guidance Simplicity and fast deployment to avoid adding burden to already stretched teams Integration with Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and HR systems already used across education How we evaluated the best intranets for education This list focuses on real education use cases rather than generic intranet functionality. Platforms were evaluated against: Ease of use for teaching and support staff Communication targeting and relevance Governance, auditability, and compliance Content management and discoverability Analytics and insight Scalability across schools, colleges, and trusts Best intranet software for education in 2026 1. Oak Engage Oak Engage is the human centred, deskbased and mobile frontline intranet people actually use, making it ideal for schools, colleges and multi academy trusts that need clarity without complexity. Education teams operate under constant pressure. Safeguarding updates, policy changes and operational notices must reach the right staff quickly and reliably. Oak acts as a single source of truth, reducing reliance on email and scattered SharePoint folders. Desk based and mobile access are equally strong. Leadership and administrators manage structured content on desktop, while teachers and support staff can access updates between lessons through the mobile app. AI personalisation reduces noise. Smart Delivery targets communications by role or location, while Aria helps staff instantly find policies and guidance. Fast to deploy and simple to manage, Oak supports governance, approvals and analytics for inspection readiness. Deep Microsoft 365, SharePoint and HRIS integrations ensure it fits into existing education ecosystems. Pros Strong role based targeting Desk based and mobile access AI personalisation with Smart Delivery and Aria Clear governance and analytics Cons Not a student learning platform Best suited to medium and large institutions 2. Frog Platform Frog is a widely recognised platform in UK education, most commonly used as a learning platform and portal for schools and multi academy trusts. In some organisations, it is extended to act as a staff intranet. The main advantage of Frog is familiarity. Many teachers and administrators already use it daily for learning and communication, which can reduce resistance to adoption. Announcements, documents, and shared resources can live alongside learning content. However, Frog is fundamentally designed around learning, not internal communications. Governance, targeting, analytics, and staff focused workflows are limited compared to dedicated intranet platforms. As institutions scale, Frog often struggles to support complex staff communication needs. Frog works best for smaller schools or trusts looking for basic staff communication layered onto an existing learning platform. Pros Familiar to teaching staff Integrated with learning environments Easy initial adoption Cons Not a true staff intranet Limited governance and analytics Less suitable for large or complex institutions 3. SharePoint intranet Many education organisations use SharePoint as a de facto intranet due to its inclusion within Microsoft 365. Policies, documents, and resources are often stored here by default. SharePoint is powerful and flexible, allowing institutions to build highly customised intranet experiences. For IT led organisations with development capacity, this can support complex structures across faculties or schools. The challenge is usability. Out of the box, SharePoint is not designed for teaching staff. Navigation, search, and content discovery often require heavy configuration and ongoing governance to avoid becoming cluttered and outdated. SharePoint intranets are most successful when paired with an experience layer or when managed by dedicated intranet teams. Pros Native Microsoft 365 integration Highly flexible Strong document management Cons Complex to manage Poor out of the box experience High governance overhead 4. Unily Unily is an enterprise intranet platform often adopted by large universities or complex multi academy trusts with deep Microsoft investment. The platform offers extensive SharePoint integration and customisation, allowing institutions to centralise systems, policies, and content across large estates. However, this flexibility comes with complexity. Deployment and change typically require specialist IT support, and the experience can feel corporate rather than educator focused. Adoption among teaching staff can be inconsistent. Unily suits large education organisations prioritising enterprise integration over simplicity. Pros Deep Microsoft and SharePoint integration Highly configurable Suitable for very large institutions Cons Complex to deploy and manage Heavy IT dependency Less intuitive for teaching staff 5. Staffbase Staffbase is a communications led platform designed to support leadership messaging and internal campaigns. In education, it is often used to centralise announcements from senior leadership. The platform performs well for broadcast communication such as policy updates, inspection preparation, and strategic messages. Mobile and desktop access support broad reach across staff groups.However, Staffbase is less effective for day to day operational communication. Targeting is typically broad, governance depth is limited, and content management is less structured than education environments often require. Staffbase suits institutions focused on leadership communication rather than detailed staff enablement. Pros Strong broadcast communication Good mobile and desktop support Scales across large institutions Cons Limited targeting precision Weaker governance controls Less suited to policy heavy environments 6. Firefly Learning Firefly Learning is another education specific platform widely used in UK schools. Like Frog, it is primarily designed for learning and parental communication, but is sometimes extended for staff use. Firefly’s familiarity and ease of use can support adoption, particularly in schools where staff already rely on it daily. Basic announcements and document sharing are straightforward. However, Firefly is not designed as a staff intranet. Governance, analytics, and structured staff communication tools are limited, making it unsuitable for larger trusts or colleges. Firefly works best for smaller schools with simple internal communication needs. Pros Familiar in UK schools Easy to use Integrated with learning workflows Cons Not a true intranet Limited governance Poor scalability 7. LumApps LumApps combines intranet functionality with employee experience features and is often evaluated by education institutions using Google Workspace. The platform can surface content from multiple systems, supporting knowledge sharing across departments and campuses. Maintaining relevance requires careful configuration and ongoing governance. Without this, feeds can feel generic and disengaging for teaching staff. Pros Strong enterprise integrations Flexible content presentation Suitable for hybrid environments Cons Configuration heavy Less intuitive for educators Governance overhead 8. MangoApps MangoApps is positioned as an all in one digital workplace that combines intranet, collaboration, and productivity tools. In education, it is most commonly evaluated by digitally mature universities, colleges, or large trusts looking to consolidate multiple internal platforms into a single environment. The platform includes document management, team workspaces, messaging, task management, and knowledge bases. For professional services teams and academic departments that collaborate frequently, this breadth can appear attractive, particularly where tools have grown organically over time. The challenge in education environments is focus and cognitive load. Teaching staff generally want fast access to a small number of trusted resources such as safeguarding guidance, policies, and announcements. Without strict governance and clear information architecture, MangoApps can feel overwhelming and reduce engagement rather than improve it. Mobile access is supported, but usability and adoption vary depending on configuration and training. As a result, MangoApps tends to suit education organisations with the capacity to actively manage complexity and enforce structure. Pros Broad feature coverage across collaboration and content Strong tools for cross department collaboration Can consolidate multiple platforms Cons Can overwhelm teaching staff Requires strong governance and ownership Overkill for many schools and trusts 9. Interact Interact is a content led intranet platform with a strong heritage in internal communications and publishing. In education, it is most often used by institutions that prioritise structured policy management, governance, and editorial control. The platform supports robust approval workflows, permissions, and content ownership. This makes it suitable for distributing safeguarding guidance, statutory updates, inspection documentation, and formal communications that must remain auditable.Where Interact can struggle is engagement and immediacy. The experience is more editorial than action oriented, which can reduce adoption among teaching staff who need quick, contextual updates rather than long form content. Mobile access is functional but not a primary strength. Discovery of urgent information can require more navigation than time pressured educators prefer. Interact suits education organisations with strong central communications teams and a governance first approach. Pros Strong editorial and governance controls Reliable for policy and compliance content Clear content ownership and approvals Cons Less engaging for teaching staff Limited mobile optimisation Slower information discover 10. Axero Axero is an intranet platform focused on simplicity, usability, and clean navigation. In education, it is most often considered by smaller colleges, independent schools, or mid sized institutions with relatively straightforward communication needs. The platform offers news publishing, document management, and basic engagement features. Administrative and leadership teams benefit from its uncluttered interface and ease of deployment, particularly where IT resource is limited. However, education organisations often require more advanced targeting and governance as they grow. Axero’s communication tools are not designed for complex role based relevance, which can limit effectiveness in large trusts or universities. Mobile access is supported but not optimised for frequent, time sensitive updates, making it less suitable for environments where staff need rapid access between lessons. Axero suits education organisations with lower communication complexity and limited regulatory pressure. Pros Easy to use Clean interface Quick deployment Cons Limited targeting and personalisation Basic analytics Less suited to large or complex institutions Final verdict: The best intranet for education Education organisations need an intranet that supports staff without adding noise. For institutions seeking a human centred, deskbased and mobile frontline intranet people actually use, with AI driven personalisation, fast deployment, and deep Microsoft integrations, Oak Engage is the strongest choice in 2026. What is the best intranet for education? The best intranet for education is subjective and depends on your organisation’s size, structure and communication challenges. There are clear category leaders, but the right choice will vary between a small school, a multi academy trust and a university. Education organisations should carry out independent research, compare platforms against real use cases and request live demonstrations before making a decision. Seeing how a platform handles targeting, governance, mobile access and integrations in practice is critical to choosing the right solution. Why do education organisations need a different intranet? Education environments operate under high accountability and time pressure. Teachers, support staff, administrators and leadership teams all access information differently. The best intranet for education reduces information overload, improves relevance and ensures critical updates are seen and trusted. What features make an intranet the best choice for education? Key capabilities include role based targeting, desk based and mobile access, strong governance controls, clear content management and integration with Microsoft 365, SharePoint and HR systems. These features help reduce email overload, improve engagement and support inspection readiness. Can the best intranet for education support safeguarding and compliance? Yes. A strong education intranet centralises safeguarding guidance, statutory updates and policy documentation. Approval workflows, audit trails and analytics support leadership accountability and inspection preparation. Is the best intranet for education the same for every institution? No. Smaller schools may prioritise simplicity and fast deployment, while larger trusts or universities may require advanced targeting, analytics and governance. The best intranet platforms scale to meet different levels of complexity. Does an education intranet replace learning platforms? No. Learning platforms focus on curriculum delivery and classroom support. The best intranet for education is staff centred, supporting communication, governance and operational clarity rather than student learning.
